Untold Memories
by FanFictionFantasy
Summary: Shinra Inc is under new management when Rufus disappears. Everyone seems to think this new President is great...well, everyone except Cloud. Perhaps it's that red glow in her eyes...or maybe it's something else... Plz Read and Review
1. Prologue

**This is only the prologue cuz it's too short to be chapter one. It takes place one year after Advent Children, and since I never played Dirge of Cerberus, nothing that happened in it will be included in this story. Except possibly the town of Edge, I did start the game. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any Final Fantasy characters/things**

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Rufus Shinra crept down the pitch black cave. His only source of light was a tiny flashlight attached to the top of his gun, which had been raised and ready to fire since he entered the cavern. Most of his injuries from Diamond Weapon's attack on Midgar had healed. He had a scar over his left eye but that was about it. His white suit was stained with dirt, mud and blood. Not his. Monsters that had attempted to make a meal out of him. It was torn in many places. His black leather shoes tapped against the cold cave floor as he continued on down the tunnel. Suddenly, he saw light ahead of him. Not the white light of an exit, but an eerie green glow. He smirked. He had found it. His pace quickened, and soon became a sprint. The green light raced toward him. It was getting larger as he grew closer. Rufus came to a stop as he entered a large circular chamber. In the center of the chamber was a massive hole that took up more of the room. The hole seemed endless. Emitting from the hole was a strange green mist. The mist was very visible, and seemed to be surrounding a green beam of light which was also coming out of the hole. Rufus circled the hole, gazing up at it in wonderment. He'd finally found it.

Suddenly he frowned. Were those footsteps he had just heard? No one else was here, at least no one he knew of. Cautiously, he raised his gun again. The footsteps came again, this time closer.

"Who's there?" Rufus called out, looking around.

He was now on the opposite side of the chamber, staring at the entrance to the chamber through the green light. He saw a figure drawing closer. He pointed his gun and fired. The bullet disintegrated in the light. He hadn't expected anything less, he just wanted this person to know he wasn't afraid to fire. The person didn't hesitate at all. He, or she, just continued walking toward him. Suddenly, Rufus became aware that the person was carrying a sword.

"I'm warning you," Rufus said, trying not to let any trace of worry enter his voice. "I'm not afraid to shoot you!"

The person ignored him and entered the chamber. For a moment, nothing happened. The person merely stood opposite him, his identity still hidden by the beam of light between them. Suddenly, the figure lashed out and came straight through the beam. Rufus felt a hand wrap around his throat. His scream never left the chamber...


	2. The New President Shinra

**Here's the newest chapter everyone. I've had to revise this several times but I think I've got it right now. Leave me a review and tell me what you think! Oh and by the way, everything in italics at the start of this chapter is from Clouds POV.**_

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Four years ago, my friends and I put our lives on the line to save the planet. We fought Sephiroth and Jenova and in the end, we stopped Meteor from destroying the entire planet. When we returned from the battle, we were heroes. Rufus Shinra made a huge speech about the mistakes that his company had made and made a public apology for what had happened. He promised the world that Shinra Inc would now strive to rebuild the planet and undo that damage they had done. At first, we all thought that things were truly changing. All the Mako reactors were destroyed, as was the 'Sister Ray' based in the ruins of Midgar. But looking at the world now, it's very clear to me that things haven't changed a bit..._

A tall woman with red hair, dressed in a white suit and wearing oval glasses approached a podium surrounded by civilians and news reporters. Her face was very stern. She wore blood red lipstick, similar to the ghastly color of her eyes.

_Barbara Shinra. Mother of Rufus and ex-wife of the late President Shinra. About three months ago, President Rufus Shinra disappeared. The Turks worked tirelessly to find him, aided a little by my friends and I, but we were unsuccessful. As a result, Barbara was contacted at her home in Costa Del Sol and asked to take her son's place as President of Shinra. Everybody believed that she was going to finally make some changes to the world._

"People of Midgar! People of the world! Today is a glorious day. For today, Shinra Incorporated finally unveils it's role in restoring the planet. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you..."

A giant cloth flew off a massive tank behind her to reveal a container full of a strange, orange liquid.

"...Planergy. A source, almost identical in every way to Mako energy, yet non-essential to the life of the planet. My company's research into the bowels of the mountains to the north has brought to us this great energy source. And already preparations are being made to establish ways of gathering this energy to convert into the electricity that lights our houses and powers our appliances." Barbara Shinra said, reading off her speech from note cards on her podium.

_When we first found out about Shinra's 'Planergy Project', we looked into it right away. Barbara assured us that we weren't going to have a repeat of the Mako energy crisis. That Planergy was, as she's put it, a non-essential source to the life of the planet. But still, we were suspicious. A lot of people were, and a handful of them wanted to put a stop to it before Shinra risked anything. That's when Reno contacted me, about a week before that speech took place._

"Cloud! How've you been?" Reno said over the phone.

"Fine. What do you want?" Cloud demanded.

"I'm calling on behalf of the president. She wants to talk to you, Cloud." Replied Reno.

"About the Planergy Project?" Cloud asked.

"You could say that. She said I'm not supposed to give you any details over the phone. Be at Shinra HQ at ten tonight if you're interested in speaking to her." Said Reno before he hung up.

_I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to meeting with Barbara. This would be my first time speaking to her directly, and from what I'd heard she had a short temper and was very stubborn. But I knew someone would have to meet with her sooner or later and it may as well be me. _

"Mr Strife. Please, take a seat." Barbara greeted him as Cloud entered the president's office.

"I see you've been putting a lot of work into rebuilding the tower." Cloud said, sitting down opposite Barbara's desk.

She nodded. "Yes. Once the Planergy reactors are operational, Shinra will slowly become the thriving empire that it once was, so I figured it would need a proper headquarters. But that's not the reason I've called you here today." She said, getting up and walking over to a refrigerator in the corner of her office.

"Would you care for a drink?" She asked.

"No." Cloud replied.

Barbara poured herself a glass of red wine and returned to her desk.

"As you must know, Shinra has made it's fair share of enemies over the years. It goes without saying that there are a lot of people out there who would like nothing more than to kill me and do away with Shinra Inc. That is why I asked to meet with you. I'm looking to hire some security. A personal bodyguard."

_Suddenly, sitting there with Barbara Shinra I felt extremely uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that her office was unusually hot, or maybe it was the fact that the word bodyguard awoke a memory within me that I'd been working for four years to suppress._

"I'm sorry but I'm not interes-"

"I'm afraid this isn't an offer, Cloud, but more of an order." Barbara said.

Cloud got to his feet. "I don't take orders. Especially from you." He said, turning and walking towards the door.

"I'm told you have orphans living with you." Her voice had a discomforting knowing tone to it.

Cloud turned around. "So what?"

Barbara smirked. "Well, legally you have no right to keep these children with you. They aren't related to you or Miss Lockhart and, from what I've heard, they haven't received any proper schooling." She said.

"What's your point, Shinra?" Cloud snapped.

"Alright, Cloud, I'll be blunt. If you do not accept my request I'll seize these children and you and Tifa Lockhart will be charged and possibly sent to prison. If you do accept, I'll be willing to look the other way in this matter." Barbara said with a horrible smirk.

_I agreed to work for her. I didn't have a choice. And so I found myself standing uncomfortably behind Barbara Shinra as she gave her speech about Planergy to the people who had gathered to hear it. _

As Barbara brought her speech to an end, Cloud pressed a finger to the device in his ear.

"Alright, as soon as she's finished escort the President to the chopper pad on the roof. There will be a Shinra Helicopter waiting for you both." The raspy voice of Seign, the head of Shinra's security department, said into Cloud's ear.

"Understood." Cloud muttered.

Barbara's speech came to an end, and Cloud escorted her into a waiting elevator that would take her to the roof.

"They seemed to respond well to my plan, don't you think?" She asked him just after the elevator doors closed.

"Yeah." Cloud replied absent-mindedly.

"You seem distracted today, what's the matter?" Barbara asked, eying Cloud through her oval spectacles.

"Nothing...just a bad dream last night." Said Cloud.

Barbara raised her eyebrow. "I would have thought you to be the last person to be bothered by bad dreams." She said.

"It was different than normal dreams...it seemed so real." Said Cloud.

"You're probably just a little overworked. After my speech at the Gold Saucer you should take a few days off." Said Barbara.

Suddenly, Cloud's cell phone rang.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Put the President on." Seign's voice came.

"Hold on." Cloud said, holding the phone out to Barbara. "It's Seign." He said.

Barbara took the phone.

"Seign. There were no problems during the speech, I trust?" She asked.

She listened for a moment, and suddenly the expression on her face darkened.

"Are you sure about this? Is it really necessary?" She asked.

Another pause.

"Alright. I'll see you in a bit." Barbara said before hanging up.

"Is there a problem?" Cloud asked.

"They've found Rufus. He washed up on the shores near the Bone Village, he's being transported to a hospital in Edge right now. Seign wants me to cancel the speech at the Gold Saucer." She said.

"What? Why?" Cloud asked.

"Rufus was injured and has gone into a coma. Seign thinks it was foul play." The President replied.

"You can't bail out now, you've rescheduled this speech twice." Cloud informed her.

"Well regardless of what I decide, there's an emergency meeting at HQ to discuss it. If we do go through with the meeting, we'll be cutting it mighty close." Said Barbara.

Tifa was washing the counters at the Seventh Heaven bar in Midgar. In the corner of the ceiling behind her was a small television, on which a reply of Barbara Shinra's speech was being shown. Vincent and Cid were both sitting at the counter watching intently.

"Bullshit." Cid cursed when she had finished. "She's making the same mistake her god damned husband made."

"How can you be so sure? We don't know anything about Planergy yet, maybe she's right." Vincent said.

"Yeah well...I still don't trust her. Why the hell's Cloud working for that stuck-up bitch anyway?" Cid asked Tifa.

"I'm not sure. Every time I ask him about it he never really gives me a straight answer. He claims he's doing it to make some extra money but I don't think that's the case." Tifa replied.

"If it's extra money he's after, I'll pay him a crisp one hundred gil bill to spit in 'er eye for me." Snapped Cid.

"_Cid_!" Tifa hissed. "Marlene and Denzel are just upstairs."

"So? I doubt Barret's singin' praises about the Shinra when he's visitin her." Said Cid.

Tifa opened her mouth to protest but Vincent cut her off.

"He's got a point, you know." He said.

"Now yer talkin'!" Cid said, raising his glass to Vincent.

"Can I get you a refill, Vincent?" Tifa asked, ignoring Cid.

"No. I'll be on my way in a moment. I need to get back to Nibelheim before dusk, I've heard there have been some rather nasty monsters creeping into the town." Vincent growled.

"You want a ride on the Highwind?" Cid asked.

"Judging from the amount you drank today I'd rather take a boat." Vincent said.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Tifa went over and answered it.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Tifa...it's Tseng." A voice panted on the other end.

"Tseng? Are you calling for Cloud? He's not here right now can I take a mess-"

"I'm not calling for Cloud, I'm calling for you. I've discovered something important...I can't discuss it over the phone, we need to meet in person." Tseng said.

"Alright, how fast can you be over here?" Asked Tifa.

"No. We can't meet at the Seventh Heaven, it's too exposed. The old Church. Meet me there in half an hour. Come alone, and make sure you aren't-" Tseng's voice was cut off by a loud gunshot and the line went dead.

"Tseng? Tseng!" Tifa shouted into the receiver.

Vincent got to his feet. "What is it?" He asked.

"I'm not sure...but I think something very wrong is going on..." Tifa replied anxiously.


End file.
